LETTER FROM JOHN BRADFORD.

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My dearly beloved: I remember that once before I wrote you a vale or farewell, upon conjecture; but now I write my farewell to you in this life indeed upon certain knowledge. My staff standeth at the door; I continually look for the sheriff to come for me; and I thank God I am ready for him. Now go I to practise that which I have preached; I climbing up the hill: it will cause me to puff and blow before I come to the cliff: the hill is steep and high, my breath is short, and my strength is feeble: pray, therefore, to the Lord for me, that as I have now, through his goodness, even almost come to the top, I may by his grace be strengthened not to rest till I come where I should be. O loving Lord, put out thy hand, and draw me unto thee! for no man cometh but he whom the Father draweth. See, my dearly beloved, God's loving mercy; he knoweth my short breath and great weakness; and as he sent for Elias a fiery chariot, so sendeth he for me: for by fire my dross must be purified that I may be fine gold in his sight. Unthankful wretch that I am; Lord, do thou forgive me mine unthankfulness! I confess, right dear to me in the Lord, that my sins have deserved hell-fire, much more than this fire; but so loving is my Lord, that he converteth the remedy for my sins, the punishment of my transgressions, into a testimonial of his truth, and a testification of his verity, which the prelates do persecute in me,

and not for my sins; therefore they persecute not me but Christ in me, which I doubt not will take my part unto the very end. Amen.

Oh that I had so open a heart as could so receive as I should do this great benefit and unspeakable dignity, which God my Father offereth to me! Now pray for me, my dearly beloved; pray for me, that I never shrink. I shall never shrink, I hope: I trust in the Lord I shall never shrink; for he that always hath taken my part, I am assured, will not leave me when I have most need, for his truth and mercy's sake. O Lord, help me into thy hands I commend me wholly. In the Lord is my trust: I care not what man can do unto me. Amen. My dearly beloved, say you Amen also; and come after, if God so call you. Be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, but keep company with him still. He will never leave you; but in the midst of temptation will give you an outscape, to make you able to bear the brunt. Use hearty prayer: reverently read and hear God's word; put it in practice: look for the cross: lift up your heads, for your redemption drawèth nigh; know that the death of God's saints is precious in his sight be merry in the Lord: pray for the mitigation of God's heavy displeasure upon our country. God keep us for ever: God bless us with his spiritual blessings in Christ! And thus I bid you farewell for ever in this present life. Pray for me, pray for me; for God's sake pray for me. God make perfect his good work begun in me! Amen. Out of prison this 7th of February.

Letters of the Martyrs.

Yours in the Lord,

JOHN BRADFORD.

Review of Books.

THE LETTERS OF THE MARTYRS: collected and published in 1564. With a preface by Miles Coverdale. And with introductory remarks, by the Rev. Edward Bickersteth, Rector of Watton, Herts. Shaw.

WHATEVER may become of this world in general, and of this nation in particular, it is very evident that the Lord is strengthening his church to withstand the power of the gates of hell, prepared as they are to assail her. Despite of all opposition, despite the grave whispers of miscalled prudence, and the deprecating shout of modern liberalism, a few faithful individuals are stirred up, to warn the church of coming perils, to brighten the shield of faith, and to whet the spiritual weapons of her ancient warfare. Popery, coming in like a flood, sees the standard lifted up, which too long lay furled in obscurity: and while nought but the sheep's clothing is by her exposed to view, these watchful men present, in pages of historical truth, the wolf's unchangeable lineaments,

which lie veiled beneath it. We wish them success in the name of the Lord.

Myles Coverdale, the first translator of the Bible into our tongue, has of late been much before the public, in connexion with the centenary celebration of October, 1835. We need not, therefore, introduce the venerable bishop of Exeter; or relate the providential manner in which he was rescued from the gripe of the ferocious Mary, sheltered by the good king of Denmark, and preserved to compile these precious remains of his beloved brethren and fellowhelpers in the gospel, who had yielded their lives for the testimony which they bore.

His preface to the work contains a touching statement of what God's dear servants underwent during the domination of the Romish antichrist, in this land. Speaking of the consolation and joy which they experienced in Christ, he says,' How else could they be so patient, so quiet of mind, so cheerful and merry, in adversity and strait captivity? Some being thrown into dungeons, noisome holes, dark, loathsome and stinking corners; other some lying in fetters and chains, and loaded with so many irons that they could scarcely stir; some tied in the stocks, with their heels upwards; some having their legs in the stocks, and their necks chained to the wall with gorgets of iron; some both hands and legs in the stocks at once, sometimes both hands in, and both legs out; sometimes the right hand with the left leg, or the left hand with the right leg, fastened in the stocks with manacles and fetters, having neither stool nor stone to sit on, to ease their woful bodies withal: some standing in most painful engines of iron, with their bodies doubled: some whipped and scourged,

beat with rods, and buffeted with fists; some having their hands burned with a candle, to try their patience, or force them to relent; some hunger-pined, and most miserably famished. All these torments and many more, even such as cruel Phalaris could not devise worse, were practised by the papists; the stout, sturdy soldiers of Satan thus delighting in variety of tyranny and torments upon the saints of God, as it is full well, and too well known, and as many can testify which are yet alive, and have felt some smart thereof.'

In this extremity of suffering, the anxious care of the martyrs was to strengthen their brethren, who were yet at large, by abundantly supplying them with the pure milk of gospel truth. The letters in this volume are so rich in it, that we hesitate not to say, if no other book of divinity was left in the church, it would suffice, as a precious, practical commentary on God's word, to edify and build up a persecuted church. We hope it will find a place in every Christian house, and a welcome in every Christian bosom. It is dedicated, by permission, to our beloved Queen Adelaide.

CONVERSATIONS ON THE HUMAN FRAME, and the five senses. By the author of Aids to Developement,' A Gift for Mothers,' Memorials of Two Sisters,' &c. &c. Illustrated with plates. Darton and Clarke.

IT is desirable that all persons should have some acquaintance with the conformation of the human